The grieving process
Grief is a shocking and bewildering experience and not something to be ‘got over’ in a matter of weeks or months. Grief is a long and individual process, and no two people ever experience it in the same way.
Grief itself isn’t an illness. It’s normal for a bereaved person not to feel normal. He or she will frequently become sad, relieved, angry, forgetful, calm, bad-tempered, cheerful, despairing, anxious and exhausted… possibly all on the same day.
Although people are individuals and mourn in different ways at different times, there are recognised stages of grief. Not everyone will go through them all, but the following are the most common. They do not necessarily come in this order, and they often overlap.
